She didn't speak much my grandmother.
Wouldn't let her granddaughters in on her past sufferings, years of hard labour without any romantic fluffy story to tell.
But I loved to listen to her. Her breathing, her shuffling, her chopping veggies, washing laundry...

I didn't grow up around my grandmother, but my family did come for visits in the summer and holidays. I always admired my grandmother and wanted to grow up to be "just like her." My mother named me after her, and as I was growing up, I felt honored to be named...

My grandma Mattie was born in Missouri in October 1st 1910. When she was 6 she came down with Polio. She lost the use of her right leg. Grandma Mattie being poor and living in the country didn't get medical treatment for it, instead she persevered.
Grandma Mattie used to hop to...

but I still laugh at them to this very day.
"I wouldn't trust your mama to walk my dog across the street."
"He's so lazy he wouldn't even work in a pie factory tasting pies for $100 an hour."
"You can't miss what you can't measure and you can't measure ****, so can't nobody...